Grifol displeased after White Sox get 1 hit, lose 5th straight

CHICAGO -- Comments from White Sox manager Pedro Grifol following a 4-1 loss to the Orioles on Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field were not very extensive.

Try a 1-minute, 12-second media session to be exact, with six brief questions following his opening statement. It was a powerful opening statement strongly voicing displeasure in his struggling White Sox (15-39), who suffered their fifth straight loss and eighth series sweep of the 2024 season.

“I don’t have much,” a terse Grifol said. “[Garrett] Crochet pitched his [butt] off. We got no-hit through [seven innings]. We had a pinch-hitter break it up.

“The rest of the guys … Not the rest of the guys. Most of the guys were … flat today. Unacceptable. That’s all I got.”

Yes, Crochet (5-5) pitched his butt off, matching a career high with 11 strikeouts and extending his scoreless-innings streak to 24 before Adley Rutschman connected for a two-run homer in the sixth. But Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish was a little bit better, no-hitting the White Sox for seven innings and striking out 11 before exiting at 103 pitches.

In the angry postgame moment, Grifol was more focused on his team’s flat aspect and how it manifested across the offense.

“Flat. Period. Major League game. Gotta respect it. Pretty simple,” Grifol said. “With the at-bats? No adjustments. We didn’t make any adjustments to this guy.”

When pressed about avoiding this same situation Monday afternoon against the Blue Jays, Grifol added, “Gotta come back ready to play.”

When asked how this sort of flat effort comes about, Grifold declined to comment.

There was a clubhouse talk between Grifol and the players after their third four-game series sweep this year. Crochet made a point of saying that talk was just for the guys.

Nobody was happy. But the players who spoke postgame didn’t seem in 100 percent agreement with Grifol’s take.

“I’ll let him comment on his statement,” catcher Korey Lee said. “He’s going to feel that way, and obviously, we have a different feeling. He is entitled to his own opinion. I think that’s a valid reason. There's nothing to hide about that. He has his opinions, and everyone is going to have their own opinions.”

“We're going against one of the best arms in the league. He's got incredible stuff so it's … I don't know,” Crochet said. “We just played a stretch against some really good teams. I don't think it's necessarily fair to harp on the losses and beat ourselves up too much. We've just got to put together a full nine innings of good baseball.”

Crochet was quick to point out he had five great innings and then made a couple of mistakes in the sixth to illustrate the full nine innings concept.

“That was the game,” Crochet said.

“I actually work out with him in the offseason, so I know what he's capable of,” said Bradish of Crochet. “I was just trying to go out there and match him. Luckily, we were able to get to him there I think in the sixth inning with that big swing from Adley. He's a great pitcher and a great guy too."

With the 11 strikeouts, Crochet took over the American League lead at 85 against just 14 walks over a career-high 63 2/3 innings this season. He retired the first 11 hitters he faced, and his scoreless-innings streak was the longest for the White Sox since reliever Matt Albers threw 33 1/3 consecutive from Aug. 5, 2015, to April 30, 2016, per Elias. It was the longest for a White Sox starter since Chris Sale had 28 from May 6 to June 2, 2013.

Yet, the southpaw’s dominance was not really the focus. The White Sox have a 1-9 record so far in a stretch of 13 straight games against the American League East, and their play Sunday triggered something in Grifol, who is a manager usually standing staunchly behind his players and keeping most criticism private.

“At the end of the day, we’ve all got to remember this is a big league jersey,” said infielder Danny Mendick, who had the team’s lone hit with a pinch-hit homer leading off the eighth against Danny Coulombe. “We’re pretty fortunate that we get to wear it every single day.

“Struggles happen. We’re just going to have to keep grinding, keep a positive mindset and then go out there and give it our all [and] see what happens.”